from Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet,

Last summer, Nazem Kadri — the top centre on the open market — didn’t ink a new deal until September training camps were basically a month away from opening. The 2023 off-season has an even greater holding-pattern feel to it, as teams are sketching out blueprints while still feeling the pinch of one final flat-cap summer.

We’re now nearly a month removed from the draft and free agency, so you wonder if after a period of re-grouping, general managers might be ready to re-surface and take another look at some bigger plays.

After all, the reigning Norris Trophy winner, a generational offensive talent and a handful of really good players from a couple Canada-based clubs are all floating in the ether, with the potential to land in a stop-what-you’re-doing headline at any moment.

With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of lingering names to keep an eye on as we rapidly approach the final full month of NHL off-season.

Vladimir Tarasenko

Any time a player fires his representation a few days into free agency, things have not gone as expected. It sure seemed like Tarasenko was about to join the Carolina Hurricanes in early July, but the rubber stamp never got dropped and a little while later, Tarasenko was dropping former agent Paul Theofanous and moving to CAA.

The Russian will be 32 in December and though you would never lump him with the elite snipers in the game anymore, Tarasenko did put up 34 goals in 2021-22, his final full year in St. Louis. He’s still got the shot to score somebody some goals — perhaps even that 'Canes squad we initially thought he was destined for.

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